Portable Paint Box

Inspired by my friend Xochitl Barnes, I put together this fabulous tiny paintbox/easel. It fits nicely into my backpack and holds everything I need to paint a tiny painting. I'm looking forward to trying it out at Porters Pub this Friday night.

My return to painting on site is an attempt to refresh my ability to handle a paintbrush with poetry of line and motion. I moved away from brushwork in my large watercolor paintings. My need for expression of story within the abstract patterns has led me back to drawing and painting from life in order to bring these skills back to the larger works. I find it difficult to transfer drawings onto watercolor paper after I have built up the initial layering of patterns. I also find that when a figure is transferred, it loses a bit of its vitality. Returning to the skills of direct observation allows me to draw directly onto the watercolor paper without having to make multiple corrections that will destroy the surface of the paper.

These little studies are so much fun that I could easily become a "painting a day" fanatic. It's no wonder that there are now thousands of artists following the lead of Duane Keiser.

The cold weather is a bit of a deterrent. I've sifted through hundreds of photographs and pulled out dozens that I use for inspiration when the weather is too chilly and I'm not in the mood to paint a pair of scissors or a salt shaker.

Traveling and painting is once again a realistic notion. Over the years, the necessary supplies that I carted around to paint outdoors became ridiculously cumbersome. With a limited palette and my tiny box, I am ready to go anywhere.